Thursday, January 24, 2013

Why is everyone hating on Vine?

Not everything they make in Silicon Valley is useful. Not everything they make is beautiful, or even functional. But sometimes you have to drop your cynicism and think like a "normal" person when you cover tech. In fact, you should do it often if you find yourself getting burnt out.

Vine launched today, and I thought it was pretty cool. Short clips, a clean UI, and a clear purpose. But some tech folks really hated it. Granted, the service had some hiccups (I didn't encounter any), but I like just tapping the screen to record video. I like that you are limited. I even like that you can't use the front-facing camera -- which sent some people in a nano-rage, apparently.

Maybe these limitations were on purpose? Like a director films scenes a certain way, edits a certain way, perhaps the developers and designers are deliberately corralling you into a behavior pattern.

Granted, I can see how some people would hate this. If you are used to tweaking the kerning on your menu bar using Terminal, maybe this "lack of power features" is pissing you off.

Hey, people complain about that same stuff when they talk about Apple vs. Android.

Circle complete.

Update: Mashable has a hit piece on Vine. It's terrible. You have to be kidding me. This is the level of snark we've descended to?
1. Bugs and glitches. Uh, so you switched away from the app and it didn't magically pick up where you left off recording? WHAT APP DOES THIS NOW? None. That's idiotic. IRC drops when I switch away from Colloquy on iOS, because that's how that shit works. Dummy, video recording ALWAYS ends when you drop out of ANY video app. Jeebus, where do they find these n00bs to write words at Mashable?
2. "Hardware limitations"... again with the damn front-facing camera. Guys, those videos are shit. Also, I shot a video today of myself where (SHOCK) I turned the fucking camera around. Here's hoping NYC hipsters figure this magical method of shooting themselves ASAP. The world depends on it.
3. Sharing on completion ONLY. Well yeah, I wish this was enabled. But Instagram (despite the writer's claim) did NOT have this initially. Even now it's not really evident. Besides, that's sort of not the fucking point of Vine, which is still eluding the technorati.
4. No Tumblr support. Are you kidding me? What the shit? OMG I CAN'T MAKE GIFS! Somehow the universe will continue.

I'm perfectly happy with what Vine is. Imagine this sort of bullshit when Path came out. There are lots of limitations in Path, and they are there on purpose. But because the developer is a beloved member of the technorati, Path gets a pass. And because Vine was acquired by Twitter, the technorati are loving to hate on it.